In the Still of the Night
by Louise Hargadon
Summary: Very silly oneshot. John can't sleep. He has an itch only Tin-Tin can scratch - but unbeknown to them, Scott can hear EVERYTHING, and he isn't happy about it...


_**A/N: **__ I was torn between two scenarios for my 'John' chapter in __Stubble__. This was the other one. I think I feel a little more comfortable with this one as I wasn't really too happy with the way his chapter turned out in the end, and there's no sense in wasting a good idea when it tickles you!_

_For John's Jezebels (as I think the collective term for John fans should be. I've got names for all of them - Scott's Sirens, Virgil's Vixens, John's Jezebels, Gordon's Groupies and Alan's... HAHAHAHAAAA! As if!), you know who you are. *OK Wink*_

_**Disclaimer:**__ All things Thunderbirdish belong to Gerald Anderson and his ex-missus, Sylvia. The only thing I lay claim to is my eternal shippage of Scott and Tin-Tin (although I know I'm not the only one who sees it!) and Gordon's self-christened nickname of Gee Cooper Tee - even though, shockingly enough, he doesn't appear in this story._

**In the Still of the Night**

John awoke suddenly. Every last inch of him tingled so much that it gave him palpitations. He sat bolt upright in bed and took a few deep breaths. He flexed his long fingers and clenched his hands into fists before realising he was holding his breath, then he exhaled slowly.

"Jeez," he muttered, running his hands through his hair.

He knew what he needed. And he knew that at that moment only one person could help him.

He got up quietly, opened his bedroom door and tiptoed down the landing before tapping gently on the last door on his left. He wasn't surprised that there was no answer initially.

"Tin-Tin!" he whispered. Nothing. "Tin-Tin, open up!" he whispered, a little more loudly.

"Mmf," he heard her grumble. Eventually, after a lot of shuffling, the door opened slightly. A very groggy-looking Tin-Tin peered up at him through half-closed eyes. "John, do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked, wearily.

"Of course I do, it's three in the morning," he answered. She nodded.

"Whatever it is, it'll have to wait," she replied, closing the door. He quickly shot a hand out to stop her from closing it.

"This can't wait," he told her, urgently. She screwed her eyes shut, let out a disgruntled sigh and shook her head.

"What's the trouble?" she asked.

"You know what I want, Tin-Tin. I need it. And I need it now," he told her. She blinked several times, not completely sure what he was actually talking about.

"You need it?" she repeated, looking completely baffled.

"Don't tease me, Tin-Tin, please. You told me that it was waiting for me in your room and that if I ever felt I needed it all I had to do was ask. I'm going crazy here, and you've got to help me," he told her, raising his voice a little. Tin-Tin's eyes widened and she pressed her index finger firmly against his lips.

"Quiet!" she hissed. "Do you want to wake up the entire house?"

Unbeknown to Tin-Tin, however, the person who slept in the next room had been wide awake since John tapped on her door.

Scott was now sat on the edge of his bed, listening intently to the conversation going on in the hallway outside.

"C'mon, Tin-Tin, don't do it," he pleaded, quietly. "Not with John, for God's sake! He's practically got his own ovaries!"

"I don't care about waking up the entire house," John insisted, forcefully.

"Scott will hear!" Tin-Tin protested.

"Let him hear, I don't care!" John shot back at her. Scott's eyes widened.

"I'll kill him!" he growled.

"For heaven's sake, John, be quiet! All right, come in. But I don't want anyone to know about this!" Scott heard Tin-Tin tell John in a firm tone.

Scott buried his head in his hands. He felt sick. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His brother and his girlfriend - in the next room! There was a sudden sound of things clattering to the floor and he heard them both burst out laughing.

"You're such a klutz!" John chuckled.

"You got in my way!" Tin-Tin protested, giggling.

"Damn right I did, come on, stop messing around, let's just get down to it."

"Oh, John! You're very forceful about this sort of thing!" she teased him.

"Listen, honey, I don't know about you but for me it's been a long time since I did this and I'm so ready to go I can barely stand it!" John told her. Scott's jaw dropped. Tin-Tin wasn't even playing hard to get!

"All right, all right. Sit down there, I'll get them out," she instructed.

Scott was now pacing up and down his bedroom, itching to storm in there and break John's legs or something equally drastic that he knew he wouldn't actually do because he loved his brother and his girlfriend far too much to hurt either of them... even though clearly they didn't feel the same about him. He could slowly feel his heart breaking into a zillion pieces, despite there being no number zillion. Maybe a jillion.

"How does that feel?" he heard Tin-Tin asked

"It's a bit tight," John answered. Scott raised an eyebrow at this comment. "Your fingers are really cold!"

"Quit whining!" she reprimanded him with a chuckle. "Here we go, are you ready?"

"Ready!" John agreed. After a few moments Scott heard John groan in delight. "Oh my god, that's so good!"

"I knew you'd like it!" Tin-Tin told him, cheerfully. Scott sighed in relief. At least she hadn't started talking dirty to him in Malaysian yet.

"Like it? I love it! You're incredible at this. You should take it up professionally!" John told her. Scott gasped in horror.

"Don't be silly, who'd help Brains out with the Thunderbirds and help Grandma with the cooking?" she asked. "That's a very nice compliment though, thank you."

"THAT was a _compliment_?!" Scott asked himself, baffled.

"How long do you think this will take?" John asked. Tin-Tin paused for a moment.

"Well I suppose that's down to you. When I do it by myself it usually takes five or six minutes," she answered, nonchalantly.

Scott couldn't bear it any longer. He finally stormed out of his room and hammered loudly on Tin-Tin's door.

"Tin-Tin! Open this door right now!" he yelled. "I've heard everything! I know you're in there, John - get out, you sonofabitch, I'm gonna rip your goddam arms off!" he roared.

"What goes on here?" his father asked, stumbling groggily out of his room. "Scott, do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked.

"Yeah I do, it's time my brother stopped trying to muscle in on my girlfriend!" Scott growled, furiously. He hammered on the door again. "Tin-Tin!"

The door opened and Tin-Tin looked up at Scott, utterly puzzled.

"What on earth's the matter with you?" she asked.

"Don't you come over all sweet and innocent with me, lady, I've heard everything!" Scott told her. "I can't believe you'd do this to me!" Tin-Tin frowned.

"Do what? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh really, so I suppose John isn't in your bedroom?"

"Of course he's in my bedroom, I thought you just said you heard everything! What's it got to do with you?" Tin-Tin asked.

"What's it got to do with me?!" Scott repeated, absolutely livid. "It's got everything to do with me! I can't believe you're being so cold about it!"

"Do you want to come inside and discuss this reasonably or would you like to continue embarrassing yourself out here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"How on earth am I embarrassing myself?" Scott demanded. "You're the one making out with my brother in there!"

Tin-Tin's face fell momentarily, before her face creased into a huge grin and she burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh at me!" Scott warned her. She bent double, holding her sides and laughing hysterically.

"Oh my god! I've just realised what you've heard!" she gasped, collapsing to the floor and kicking her legs out uncontrollably. "Oh my god! This is brilliant!"

"Tin-Tin, please. I do have feelings you know. I'm not all hair and testosterone," Scott told her, his blue eyes filled with sorrow. Tin-Tin pushed her door wide open and Scott looked inside.

Sat at Tin-Tin's dressing table was John, in his lilac pyjamas, with a mud pack on his face.

"What the-" Scott began.

"Hey, bro," John offered, nodding affably at him.

"You mean... you mean all that time you were putting a face pack on him?" Scott asked as Tin-Tin was still convulsing in now-silent laughter on the floor. She nodded.

"Of course I was!" she breathed, trying desperately to calm down before she suffocated with laughter.

"You woke Tin-Tin up at three in the morning because you wanted her to put a face pack on you?" Scott asked John. John shrugged.

"What did you think I'd want her for?" John asked, the pack cracking a little as he arched his left eyebrow. Scott looked away awkwardly.

"Well, I, uh... well she's an attractive girl! I just thought... well... it'd be only natural... I thought..."

"I don't want to have sex with your girlfriend, Scott," John sighed. "I just want to use her for her beauty products."

Scott had never been so relieved in his life. He helped Tin-Tin up, whose laughter had now been reduced to fitful giggles and held her tightly to him.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled into her hair. She clung tightly onto him for a few moments too long and then pulled away from him.

"It's fine. Besides, I've got plenty left if you want me to use some on you, Scott," she offered, grinning cheekily at him. Scott recoiled in horror.

"No thanks, I'll leave you two ladies to it!" he replied hastily, edging back towards his bedroom.

"Aw, c'mon, Big Guy - if you wanna keep looking young and fresh these days, you gotta exfoliate!" John told him, matter of factly.

Jeff, who had been stood watching the entire debacle unfold before him, now rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

"What the hell did I raise? A beauty queen and the Incredible Hulk - they must get it from their mother. Or _my_ mother," he muttered to himself, turning around and trudging back to bed.

**THE END**


End file.
